What A Girl Wants

Wedding Gift Registries

Gone are the days when brides registered for fine china, silver and crystal -- only. These days, couples have broadened the scope of their registries, signing up for merchandise at a variety of places -- including specialty shops, home furnishing retailers, department stores and home improvement meccas. Many also are creating registries for the honeymoon of their dreams.

"Most of the weddings I coordinate, the bride is a mature woman in her late twenties or early thirties," says wedding consultant Anthony Lala Jr. "She has either purchased things on her own or been given nice things by her parents or grandparents. Because they have nice things already, a lot of my brides don't register at all." Among those who do, says Lala, the tendency is toward choosing more useful, everyday wares rather than special occasion items like formal china.

"Because most people getting married are older, they're already established in their homes," concurs wedding planner Michele Caswell-Adams of Unique Weddings. "I find that rather than investing in things like china, they're more interested in their actual home furnishings. And they're registering at places like Pottery Barn, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Target." Still other brides and grooms who've been on their own and accrued an abundance of housewares before they wed, are sending their well-wishers to Home Depot and Lowes, where they can apply their registry points to everything from hardware to Jacuzzis. Some are even setting up wedding Web sites that provide information on how to contribute toward their honeymoon.

"It's a dual benefit to both the couple and their guests," says Caswell-Adams, who recommends sites like www.thebigday.com (you can find more by Googling "honeymoon planner"), which are designed to walk couples through the process. "It's very targeted toward their specific honeymoon activities and offers an abundance of options for the guests giving the gift."